NM tourism up 5 percent between 2010 and 2011

SANTA FE — New data from the Department of Tourism shows the number of domestic visitors to New Mexico rose by almost 5 percent from 2010 to 2011, boosting the state's hospitality industry.

In addition, the state is attracting the "right people" who spent more last year than a year earlier, Tourism Secretary Monique Jacobson said. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (http://bit.ly/SnM6Sv ) Jacobson made the comments and released the new figures at a Tourism Association of New Mexico conference Friday.

"They are coming in bigger groups, they are staying longer and they are spending more money," she told the tourism and travel executives at the Albuquerque conference.

State figures showed 31.2 million people visited New Mexico in 2011, compared with 29.7 million in 2010, numbers that were the highest since 2008. That number includes visitors who don't stay overnight and are just passing through the state. The number of tourists who stayed overnight rose almost 6 percent, from 13.7 million in 2010 to 14.5 million in 2011, Jacobson said.

All those people visiting from other states meant a lot of jobs for New Mexicans. In the second quarter of 2012, there were 2,700 more people employed in the industry than the second quarter of 2011, Jacobson said.

"People think tourism is fun and fluffy, and it is all those things, but it's absolutely critical to the economy," she told the crowd.

Jacobson said tourism accounted for $1.2 billion in tax revenue in 2011, according to new data released by the department.

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Because of that revenue, the average person is paying $747 less in taxes for the same benefits, she said. "It's almost like these tourists come in here, they are writing you a check at the border for $747 that you are just able to put back into your pocket. . You otherwise wouldn't have that money if it weren't for tourists here," she said.

The two-day conference, which ended Friday, came after the department launched its New Mexico True campaign, a multimedia advertising blitz aimed at attracting more visitors.

Jacobson said early indicators are that the campaign has been successful and the department plans to ask the Legislature for additional funding next year. The department is working on a study to measure the return on its investment in the campaign, she said.